Tilting at Windmills

Rich is the history of the Oklahoma Sooners in Miami, Florida – scene of some of our greatest triumphs and greatest failures .  Usually, MNC’s are on the line when the Sooners are in the 305.  Such is not literally the case on Saturday night, primetime on ABC, but one could argue that it is.  As we stand, we are amazingly still firmly entrenched in the NC picture – lose Saturday night and that is probably gone, again.   The wackiness of this college football season so far has afforded us this chance, now it’s time to seize it.  There are no more Idaho St.’s or Tulsa’s on the schedule – it’s go time now.

Back in the glorious year that was 2000 – Bob Stoops emphatically stated that Oklahoma belongs in Miami, that we’ve had a lot of success there and after the dregs of the post Switzer era it sure did feel good to be going back.  Truth is we do have a glorious past in Miami, as long as we’re not playing the team that calls that city home.  OU is  1-2 all time against them in Miami, that win coming in 1975 while the 2 losses  in 86 and in the 87 orange bowl cost us a national championship.  All part of a 3 year run where Jimmy Johnson’s Canes were the 1 team that could hang with the Sooners and they did more than hang, they dominated and changed the landscape of college football in the process.  On the defensive side of the ball, when it became in vogue to put some of your best athletes over there,  the raw speed and power displayed by the ‘Canes overwhelmed opponents and thus Thug U was born.

On to present day, where every time the BCS championship game turns up in Miami the Sooners are present.   Memories fondly turn to the aforementioned 2000 and the dream season it was that concluded in Pro Player Stadium on 1/3/01.  Heupel, Q, the Rock, Torrance “I’m gonna get my boy’s trophy back” Marshall, Ontei “GO HOME MIAMI!” Jones were given no shot against the aged balding Heisman winner of the ‘Noles.  All they did was pitch a shutout and put # 7 in the Switzer center. 

Torrance backed it up, too.

2004 and 2008 at Dolphin Stadium as we all know was a much different story.  Saturday night at Landshark stadium (seriously?) needs to reverse the trend.  While this will be a tough game, we have every reason to be optimistic headed into this one.  Besides requesting a registered sex offender search to be conducted by the Miami Dade county police department, which would coincidentally render half their roster suspended- here’s what we have to do to win.  (That’s harsh - Shannon has cleaned that thing up, but couldn’t resist…)

Just don’t ask for directions to Landshark.

Defense.  We have an elite defense ranked #1 in a bunch of categories.  Guess what wins championships? Defense.  Guess what wins tough road games against quality opponents in charged atmospheres? Defense.  Miami has athletes at the skill positions and OC Whipple will do his best to put them in a position to succeed.  We need consistent pressure with our front 4 without having to sell out on risky blitzes.  When we do blitz, they must be properly disguised, mixed up and must work.  Bud Foster of VT did a nice job of this and Harris was flustered for the 1st time all year.  He also obviously had trouble throwing a wet ball in the downpour in Blacksburg.  A chance of rain is in the forecast for sat. night, but don’t be fooled into that being a significant factor for Miami in a home game.  I’m not worried at all about stuffing their run game – their OL is OK but not great.  They won’t beat us running the ball.  We are vulnerable, as we all know on the short stuff over the middle picking on Reynolds. With their athletes they’ll get some of that stuff but sure tackling is a cure for that.  I sure would love to see an LB (namely Reynolds) come off the field in obvious passing situations for a DB but I just don’t know if that’s ever gonna happen.  Brent likes his 3 lb’s on the field at all times and that’s what it’s gonna be. Expect a big game from Clayton and TLewis in space.  They also have a big TE basketball player that could cause trouble if he doesn’t Ratteree every pass thrown his way.  Not really worried about our 2ndary,  I think we are starting to see a significant upgrade in our safety play, especially athletically in the speed department, over last year.  FSU is bad on defense, Georgia Tech is average and they had no depth on the DL causing their front 4 to be gassed midway through the 1st quarter,  VT dominated these guys.  OUr D is better than all 3.

Offense.  Ahh, the big question on everyone’s mind..will Sam be able to go?  Who knows and we’re not going to know until possibly game time so in my opinion we should stop worrying about it.  Why? I’m of the belief that we can get this thing done with the Stache and I certainly think it’s ludicrous to put Sam out there and risk further injury if he’s not 100%.  As mentioned before, save him for the big 12 – get him a half against a depleted Baylor squad next week and have him 100% for Dallas.  He will be needed in the Cotton Bowl.  Our developing OL needs to show their improvement in this game.  They need to open holes early and often in the running game to help out the Stache and allow for timely play action.  FSU, GT and VT have all run the ball effectively on these guys, we need to do the same. The OL  also must competently protect whomever is standing back there at qb.  A very real scenario exists where we are 1 play away from seeing Drew Allen.  Hopefully, if it is the Stache he has used the off week to continue to familiarize with the receivers and the offense.  Locking onto a primary target and not going through his progressions, while OK against Idaho St. and TU, will not be good enough against the athletic Canes.  They have a competent front 7 and are led from the back by experienced safety Kenny Phillips.  If Landry can go through his progressions look for that 3rd receiver to possibly emerge.  Kenney? Reynolds? Miller? Tennell?  Any of you are welcome to step up..Also, look for a big game from Murray on the flare and check down plays - he didn’t get to go on this field last year and will be ready to make a statement.

Special teams – continue to be solid – Marcus Trice, DeMontre Hurst – keep doing what you do.  Moreland – a couple touchbacks would be great – though not likely in the muggy Miami air so we will have to cover.  Overall, feel pretty confident about this game if we execute and avoid mistakes.  The U is not all the way back as evidenced by the washout in Blacksburg but overall is a much improved outfit.   They will be hungry to prove themselves worthy of the praise they received in the opening couple weeks of the season and that last week was an aberration.  Their 4 game opening gauntlet was one of the more brutal in recent history, going 2-2 is nothing to be ashamed of at all and that is what I expect.  3rd try’s a charm – right?

Boomer!

H/T – atlas, pong, others..you know who you be.

So here’s the Preseason TaW Top 25.

This Top 25 will be updated every Sunday night of the college football season.

The prior Top 25 will have no significant impact on the new one. Teams won’t hold positions playing scrubs in OOC play over teams with real wins in September. Just because a team is 18th doesn’t mean it moves up because the 17th ranked team loses.

So here’s the first one, and be sure to let me know in comments how badly you disagree.

1. UF : Why? Absolutely loaded on both sides of the ball and they don’t play Mississippi in the regular season.
2. OU: Why? And the real question is why over Texas? Fortunately this matchup will get settled on the field. Right now OU’s weakest point is interior OL which is matched against UT’s weakest point DT. So that’s a push.  They cancel each other out. Just like OU’s strength at DT is relatively matched by UT’s interior OL strength. Meanwhile OU has significant advantages at CB, TE, RB, DE (Kindle is good but OU has 3 battle tested DEs) and TE, while positions like LB, WR,OT and finally QB are relatively even.
3. UT: Why, see number two.
4. Va Tech: Why? Best team in ACC and they have a loaded offense for the first time in while. You know that the D will be solid. This prediction could come flying off the rails with significant early tests.
5. Ohio State: Why? Big Ten sucks and they clearly have the best talent in the conference. This is a projection based on them beating SC at the Horseshoe
6. Oregon: Why? They return the bulk of their offensive firepower and get SC at Eugene where as Sooners fans know all too well anything can happen. Also, they have an elite OOC schedule to test how good they are.
7. USC: Why? New QB and rebuilding front seven I think leads to a game where they get gashed by the run (like Oregon State last year) and their new QBs struggle with road games.
8. TCU: Why? Quite simply, no OU on their schedule. They return a bunch of pieces and play great defense. Honestly, they were a real FG kicker away from playing Bama in the Sugar Bowl instead of Utah.
9. Mississippi: Why? Best returning talent in the SEC East, and they don’t have to play Florida. They are not higher because let’s see how this team does being the hunted.
10. Alabama: Why? New QB, new OL, new RB and that was what worked for them last year. Things may gel, but they get an early test versus Va Tech which will decide a lot.
11. Oklahoma State: Why? Until proven otherwise they don’t play defense against top ten teams. Also, they have an early test versus UGa which will either drop them or vault them in the rankings.
12. Penn State: Why? Second best talent in the Big Ten. Big Ten is clearly the easiest conference to go undefeated in. Seriously, put OU or UT in the Big Ten and tell me you are not putting them in the title game immediately.
13. Georgia Tech: Why? Year two is supposed to be when Paul Johnson’s offense will really click. He’s got a top five RB in Dwyer, and although the defense has some holes he has a lot of elite talent over there (DE Derrick Morgan)
14. Boise State: Why? Really easy schedule and they are returning their QB. They have one real game versus the BCS in September at Oregon. Win and they stay in the Top 15, lose and I may not rank them again all year.
15. Utah: Why? They went undefeated last year and return a lot of talent. They have to play TCU in Fort Worth – a game that could again decide a BCS slot. Oregon game in September could easily vault Utah into the top ten
16. Cal: Why? Jahvid Best.
17. Georgia: Why? No team has been devastated by injuries more than UGa last year. They have a veteran upperclassman to replace Stafford and host of blue chip backs to replace Moreno. OSU game maybe the best OOC matchup of September
18. LSU: Why? Massive amounts of talent and they might have found a QB who is not Captain Pick Six.
19. Oregon State: Why? Returning a lot of talent on offense
20. Kansas: Why? And more to the point why are they here over Nebraska? Two names, Todd Reising and Dezmon Briscoe. KU has the best returning QB/WR corps in the Big 12 North and it’s not even close.
21. FSU: Why? After what is almost of a decade of underachieving QBs, FSU appears to finally have one in Christian Ponder.
22. USF: Why? Someone has to win the Big East.
23. Boston College: Why? I briefly forgot they were not in the Big East.
24. Michigan State: Why? Nice amount of talent, they appear to be gelling under new head coach Mark Dantonio in his second year. Just need to settle on a QB.
25. Notre Dame: Why? They have a incredibly easy schedule save for USC. They return their QB, top WRs (Tate and Floyd are legit talents).